Landlord (and his kids) Return

 My landlord returned from Romania today, along with his two kids. I wasn't dreading the prospect of his return. I have lived for years with housemates who took up physical space as well as a good amount of space in my head because of their behaviour and habits. It often happened that relations were relatively warm initially, but turned frosty over time. Its difficult to be friendly with someone who does not show consideration for you, especially when your relationship is not built on a foundation of friendship. You can to some extent be more open about your frustration with a friend you live with, even though its common for friends who live together to move to salvage their friendship or to stop being friends. I have friends who say they must live alone, even if they can only afford a small, danky place. I have never felt that way. I would be happy to live with a friend who is as considerate and clean as I like to think I am. But the experience of the past few years has scarred me that I don't want to have a housemate unless I am acquainted with them and their living habits. My housemate horror stories could fill a book and this blog contains some of them. I would often take days off in the middle of the week because my housemates would be away at work, and go into the office on weekends, just to steer clear of them. But, that is a stage of life that I have hopefully left behind for good.